MEXICAN ring icon Erik “El Terible” Morales yesterday lambasted Manny Pacquiao’s renowned trainer Freddie Roach, branding the American strategist as someone “never good enough to be in a big fight.”
Morales, in an interview with the boxing website Fightnews, was reacting to recent comments made by Roach while he was in Manila.
Roach purportedly labeled the Mexican future Hall of Famer as “a nasty guy, who has spoken very bad of the Filipino people.”
The American was also reported as having said, “I can’t wait to beat this man [Morales] again,” referring to the third showdown on Nov. 18 between Pacquiao and Morales.
“I have never insulted the Filipino people in my life,” said Morales. “To the contrary, I believe that they are, as well as Mexican fans, very loyal to their boxers and have a well-grounded knowledge of boxing, and they support the sport like few others.”
Morales also said he “respected” Pacquiao “as a fighter.”
“I have never put Pacquiao’s greatness as a warrior in doubt,” the Mexican said. “I mentioned in some interviews what I believed were his weaknesses, but I never said that I don’t respect him, because that is not true. I do respect him as a fighter.”
Asked why he lost to Pacquiao in January, Morales said he “was over-confident after beating him so easily the first time,” and “I made some mistakes in my training camp that I will not make again.”
“It is insulting to me that Roach wants to put words in my mouth,” said Morales. “If he can’t wait to see Manny try to beat me again, just tell him that Nov. 18 will be here soon enough.”
Morales said he is sad to see former fighters like Roach who are now trainers “wanting to take center stage in a big fight, because they were never good enough to be in a big fight.”
